UFO ROUNDUP

Volume 9
Number 20
May 19, 2004

Editor: Joseph Trainor

UFO Roundup and the UFOINFO site are operated on a "Not For Profit" basis. You can help to keep UFO Roundup operating by making a donation.

MEXICAN AIR FORCE TRACKS 11 UFOs OVER CAMPECHE

Mexican ufologist and TV personality Jaime Maussan
broke the news on Sunday, May 9, 2004, during a broadcast
of Los Grandes Misterios del Tercer Milenio (Spanish for
Great Mysteries of the Third Millenium--J.T.) on the
Mexican TV network Multimedios Television in Monterrey,
Nuevo Leon state.

Maussan revealed that on Tuesday, April 20, 2004, he
was "contacted by a high-ranking member of Mexico's
Department of Defense to have a private meeting and
discuss a subject of high relevant matter."

The following day, Wednesday, April 21, 2004, Maussan
met with Gen. Gerardo Clemente Vega Garcia, Mexico's
Secretary of Defense "and was informed about an incident
that took place on (Friday) March 5 (2004) in the airspace
over Ciudad del Carmen," in Mexico's eastern state of
Campeche "where a Merlin C-26A was doing a routine flight
to detect drug-smuggling airplanes during an anti-
narcotics operation."

"The Merlin C-26A was equipped with high-tech digital
equipment to register and record all activities during the
operation. Powerful sensors like the FLIR (Forward-
Looking Infrared Radar--J.T.) Star Zapphir II and a Radar
AN/PS 143 were being used by qualified personnel aboard
the airplane, and operations were recorded in both
conventional and infrared radar."

The aircraft was under the command of Major Magdaleno
Jasso Castanon. The FLIR operator was Lieutenant Mario
Adrian Vasquez, and the radar operator was Lt. Gherman
Ramirez. All three men were assigned to 501 Squadron of
the Fuerza Aerea Mexicana (FAM or Mexican Air Force--J.T.)

"At approximately 5 p.m." on Friday, March 5, 2004,
"the Merlin C-26A detected unknown traffic over Ciudad del
Carmen," located on the Bahia de Campeche about 500
kilometers (300 miles) east of Mexico City. "According to
protocol, Maj. Jasso made a manuever to approach the
unidentified traffic at a certain range in order to get a
clear look."

At the same time, Maj. Jasso radioed the FAM air base
"that a possible suspect had been detected and requested
that jet interceptors be put on alert."

As the Merlin C-26A tried to approach the unknown
traffic to make a visual identification, the object
"suddenly escaped in a surprising maneuver, flying away at
tremendous speed. Maj. Jasso tried to pursue the target,
but it was very fast. All this was being recorded by the
FLIR and the radar and also in radio conversations with
the base, describing the unexpected maneuver of the
unknown object."

At this time, the FAM crew "still had not made visual
contact" with the object.

"Moments passed, when suddenly the unknown object
returned and began following the Merlin C-26A. This was
detected by the radar and the FLIR while the personnel
kept trying to make visual contact. The equipment
detected not only one but two 'unknown traffics' following
them. The images on both the radar and the FLIR were
clear and unmistakable. However, the crew still couldn't
make visual contact with the two traffics even though the
objects by that time were at close range."

"In a matter of seconds, more unknowns arrived at the
scene. The radar and FLIR detected immediately the
presence of nine new objects that arrived surprisingly
like 'coming from nowhere.' The situation had entered
into a high level of danger so Maj. Jasso radioed the
base, requesting instructions."

"Still the crew couldn't see them. No visual contact
with the unknowns was possible for some reason never
experienced before by these highly-trained men. However,
the high-tech sophisticated equipment and radars were not
lying. There were 11 targets outside with unpredictable
intentions."

"The unknown objects suddenly made a maneuver,
surrounding the Mexican Air Force plane at close range.
The radar and the FLIR presented an image of 11 objects in
a circle around the Merlin C-26A."

"Maj. Jasso reported to the base that the aircraft's
situation was now at red alert," that the plane "was
surrounded by 11 mysterious, round-shaped objects
camoflauged with a certain unknown advanced technology."

Maj. Jasso then turned off all lights aboard his
aircraft. The FLIR continued to record the images until
they flew away.

On Thursday, May 11, 2004, at 11 a.m., Maussan called
a press conference at the Hotel Sevilla Palacio in Mexico
City. He presented a 15-minute video to the reporters and
answered questions about the encounter over Ciudad del
Carmen.

"'They were invisible to the eye, but they were
there,'" Maussan reportedly said, "'There is no doubt
about it. They had mass, they had energy, and they were
moving fast.'"

"At the news conference, Jaime Maussan told reporters
that the objects seemed 'intelligent' because at one point
they changed direction and surrounded the plane that was
chasing them."

The Mexican government "confirmed the video was shot
by the Air Force on March 5 (2004) over the eastern state
of Campeche as the aircraft looked for drug traffickers
over the Gulf of Mexico."

"'We are not alone! This is so weird!' one of the
pilots can be heard yelling" on the videotape, according
to Reuters news service.

"The objects were described as blobs of light that
hover in formation and dart about, sometimes disappearing
into a cloud."

"'There was a moment when the screens showed they
were behind us, to the left and in front of us. It was at
that point that I felt a bit tense,'" Maj. Jasso said.

In a telephone interview with the Mexican newspaper
Hoy, Gen. Vega Garcia said, "We track furtive aircraft
that could be the source of drug trafficking. The
(Campeche) area is well known in this regard. Only two
days ago (Monday, May 10, 2004) we captured a small plane
with over 1,000 kilos of cocaine. Our aircraft is the
same one which locates such illegal traffic and guides
other air elements to enable their capture."

"I receive daily information about what happens with
those flights throughout the Republic," Gen. Vega Garcia
added, "This data was sent in for analysis, has no
explanation, and I would like to caution that we never
spoke of UFOs or saucers or anything, only the sighting of
some very strange contacts that were incomprehensible in
the situation, given that there was nothing at all flying
in the air at the time, according to the Ciudad del Carmen
Airport. The (radar) devices recorded accurately a series
of luminous contacts."

Skeptics claimed later in the week that the objects
captured in the infrared were "fragments of a meteor" or
weather balloons or rare examples of ball lightning. (See
the Mexican newspaper Hoy for May 12, 13 and 14, 2004.
Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, Santiago Yturria y Marco
Reynoso para estos informes.)

PHOTOGRAPHER SNAPS A UFO IN MALAGA, SPAIN

On Wednesday, April 1, 2004, a religious procession
put on by the Cofrada de Nazarenos del Santo Cristo de las
Penas marched out of the Divina Pastora Roman Catholic
Church in the barrio Capuchinos (neighborhood) of Malaga,
a seaport city in southern Spain.

"The event occurred between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. along
a stretch of road running parallel to the Rio
Guadalmedina, specifically as they passed through Pasillo
Santa Isabel, where the cameraman had the chance to
approach the image of the crucified Christ from various
angles using the sky as a backdrop."

"'This was possible because there weren't too many
spectators present, unlike the larger parades, such as El
Captivo, to whom miracles have been ascribed here in
Malaga,' the photographer said."

The photographer, a man named Rainor, "claims that
after transferring the images from his digital camera to a
computer, and having inspected them one by one, he
realized that the camera had picked up something that was
not seen at the time neither by him nor by anyone present
at the procession."

Rainor shot images of the procession using a SONY
Cybershot Model P-31, with two megapixels of image storage
space.

"The weather condition at the time was a clear sky
that offered plenty of light and heat," Rainor told the
Spanish news media. The daylight disc appears "over the
river and the barrio Trinidad on the other side of the
bridge."

Malaga is a port on the Mediterranean Sea, located
about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Spain's capital,
Madrid. (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Marco Reynoso
para esto informe.)

LUMINOUS UFO SEEN IN SUNDERLAND, UK

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or is it something
from a galaxy far, far away?"

"Neil Carter was putting the rubbish out in the
backyard of his Sunderland home when a mysterious flashing
light caught his eye. Unable to tell exactly what it
might be, he rushed inside, grabbed a camera and started
snapping away at the banana-shaped object."

"Mr. Carter, from Monkwearmouth, said: 'At first it
appeared to be very small and was bobbing up and down in
the sky. Then it dropped down a bit and got bigger. It
was all a bit of a shock because there was nothing else in
the sky and there appeared to be no explanation as to what
it might be.'"

"The sighting, last Saturday (May 1, 2004) at about
9:15 p.m. was also spotted by Mr. Carter's girlfriend."

"It came just weeks after amateur stargazer Alan
Toon, 60, from Park Estates, Hetton, spotted two lights
floating above in the sky near his home. He had also been
walking outside to empty the rubbish when he noticed the
mysterious object."

"Mr. Carter is hoping other people in the area might
have seen the light and could offer him some kind of
explanation as to what it might have been."

"The self-employed businessman from Devonshire Street
added: 'I have always believed there might be other life
out there--it would be a shame to think there was only
us.'"

"'I really don't know exactly what it was that I saw,
but I would certainly like to try and find out. To
witness something like this is really very strange.'"

"Reports of unexplained objects in the Wearside skies
have stretched back to the 1950s."

"One of the oddest was that of Gordon Brown, who
spoke to the Echo in 1993 about the events of September
22, 1951 when he went to Roker Park for Sunderland's clash
with Portsmouth. Despite being among thousands of
potential witnesses, soldier Gordon struggled to find
anyone else to back up his story. He was standing in the
Fulwell End when a man in front of him pointed at
something in the sky, a small object shaped like a child's
spinning top about 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) up, which
hovered above the ground for about half an hour."

"In 1996, a strange craft was seen over Hendon,
emitting bright yellow beams from its centre."

"A bumper crop of sightings emerged in August and
September 1988, with UFOs sighted over Marston Grotto,
Sunderland and County Durham." (See This is Sunderland
for May 6, 2004, "Mystery sighting has Neil baffled."
Many thanks to Robert Fischer for this newspaper report.)

NIGHT SAUCER SPOTTED IN RZESZOW, POLAND

"A UFO was sighted above Rzeszow, the main city of
Podkarpacie province" in Poland "on the night of (Tuesday)
May 4, 2004."

"It was very similar to the classic UFO with a dome
on its saucer-like structure. The UFO was photographed by
a college student in Rzeszow. This event is being
investigated and studied by the Center for UFO and
Anomalous Phenomena Research (Polish acronym: CBUFOIZA--
J.T.)."

"Similar objects were seen and photographed over
Rzeszow with VHS videocameras in 1998 and again in 2000."

"It is worth noting that this is the second UFO photo
made above Podkarpacie province during the past two years.
The first one was made over the village of Brzostek on
July 26, 2003. CBUFOIZA has all ten photographs of that
UFO."

(Many thanks to Polish ufologists Arkadiusz Miazga and
Robert K. Lesniakiewicz for this news story.)

YELLOW-LIGHTS UFO SEEN BY A FAMILY IN INDIA

On Wednesday, May 12, 2004, at 10:10 p.m., eyewitness
Ankita's mother "was standing on our balcony" at an
apartment house in Koyambedu, Chennai in India's southern
state of Tamil Nadu, "looking at the skies" when "she
noticed an array of dim yellowish lights arranged like a
semi-circle moving towards her right."

"She pointed it out to my sister," Ankita reported,
"and she came running to tell me, as I was in my room. By
the time I came out, it had gone out of sight. Then we
tried to go to the terrace, but there was no light there.
So we came home, and I went to the balcony again, thinking
I had missed it, but, to my surprise, I saw a similar
array of lights but of a different shape. We were excited
and waited to see more. All our neighbours were asleep so
we could not inform them."

"I told my Dad and he came out with us. After some
time, we saw it again. I tried to capture it on video,
but it was dim, and there was no battery in the camera.
We saw it three more times that evening, a total of six
times in all. Dad saw it two times. It seemed to appear
suddenly halfway up the sky to the north, and then to
drift horizontally at constant speed towards our right
(south--J.T.) and out of sight."

"The last two times, it came with a low rumbling
sound. The last time it was the loudest and the lowest.
Then it was almost 11 p.m., and we went to sleep."

The UFO "was below Venus, as it was visible from our
balcony that night, and it moved at constant speed at a
uniform horizontal height (altitude--J.T.)." (Email Form
Report)

UNUSUAL UFO SIGHTED IN HUDSON, FLORIDA

On Thursday, May 13, 2004, at 10 p.m., eyewitness
Susan Bohm reported, "I was letting the dog out the east
back door of my home" in Hudson, Florida (population
12,765) "and, in doing so, stepped outside to admire the
sky and stars, as I usually do when waiting for him. A
movement to my right caught my eye, and I turned to watch
something fast approach" from the southwest "rather high
in the air, transparent yet with a 'pod-like' bubble."

"There were three triangular-shaped illuminated
items--each one independent of the other; yet in
formation, one being in front, one on the left, and one on
the right."

"The transparent mass seemed to ripple (the only word
that comes to mind--S.B.) I did have enough time to look
elsewhere to ensure that all else was visible still. Yet
the 'bubble' mass was vibrating, rippling as it moved very
quickly northwest toward the Gulf of Mexico."

"Within the three (objects), the moving force kept
their patterns inside the mass."

"They did not fly like birds, yet the movement is
more fashioned to that type of movement. The light did
not seem to be a 'light,' more like a sheen or a shine
like the reflection you get from black plexiglass on
appliances. I do know what I saw and wrote down a drawing
and my exact feelings at the time. But it is very hard to
describe in words what I did see. The transparency and
the vibrating rippling movement was more interesting than
the items in it."

Hudson is on Highway 19, on Florida's Gulf of Mexico
shoreline, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of St.
Petersburg. (Email Form Report)

"COLUMBUS LION" SAID TO BE HEADING EAST

"Authorities suspect a dangerous wild animal believed
by some to be a lion may be heading east into Licking
County," Ohio.

"Hebron police were notified early Thursday afternoon
(May 13, 2004) by a woman who said she saw a cat-like
animal 100 yards (90 meters) from her window. On
Wednesday (May 12, 2004) two Kirkersville teachers and
five schoolchildren sighted a creature they say resembled
a lion near the school yard."

"Licking County Animal Warden Jon Luzio said police
searched the area where the animal was spotted Thursday
along Ohio (Route) 40 just outside Hebron (population
2,034)," a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east
of Columbus, "but no tracks were found."

"The woman who reported the sighting described the
animal as large, brown and cat-like, said Hebron Patrolman
Gary Baker."

"Baker said Licking County Sheriff's Deputies were
called and searched the surrounding area for more than an
hour, but no trace of the animal was found."

"Some suspect the creature could be a coyote, Baker
said."

"If the animal is the same one that was spotted three
times in Gahanna (population 32,636) earlier this month,
it is moving east and may actually be a cougar (puma in UK
and Australia--J.T.), Luzio said." (For more on the
Gahanna, Ohio sightings, see UFO Roundup, volume 9, number
19 for May 12, 2004, "Mystery lion seen by many near
Columbus, Ohio," page 9.)

"There are three or four owners of exotic animals in
the county, and these pets include lions, tigers and
cougars, he said. All but one owner's animals have been
checked and accounted for, Luzio said, adding he intends
to check on that exotic pet owner today."

"The sighting early Wednesday (May 12, 2004) at
Kirkersville Elementary School prompted officials to end
all outdoor recess activities until Monday. School
officials called Licking County Sheriff's Deputies and
sent a letter to parents informing them of the incident
that 'fascinated' and 'startled' some of the children."

Kirkersville is on Ohio Route 40 approximately 6
miles (10 kilometers) east of Hebron.

"Principal Patricia Doran said approximately 140
second- and third-graders were in the schoolyard during
noontime recess when five children and two teachers
spotted the creature just outside the north fence."

"The creature was approximately 350 feet (106 meters)
away from the observers, according to a Licking County
Sheriff's report. No one was injured, and the creature
disappeared into an adjacent wooded area, the report
stated."

"The animal was described as large, butterscotch-
colored, with a huge head and a very muscular body,
according to a written statement by a teacher to Sheriff's
Deputies, who were immediately called to the scene."

"Another description of the creature in the report
lists it as being 'a tan, stocky animal with a short tail
and hanging ears. It appeared to have an orange tint to
the short hair. The animal made no sound and appeared to
be keeping its distance from the persons in the area.'"

"Rebecca Sue Reasoner, one of the teachers who saw
the animal, wrote, 'The cat ran northeast into the woods
along the creek. The trot reminded me of a cat.'"

"Reasoner blew her whistle, calling all students to
line up and return to the building, according to her
statement."

"Communicating with staff on walkie-talkies (hand-
held radios--J.T.), the children were ushered back into
the school building, Doran said."

"'I think they wanted to come in,' Doran said, 'A
couple (of students) were fascinated, but I think they
were more startled than anything else.'"

"The sighting was a hot topic of conversation among
the kids, but they soon turned their attention back to
classroom activities, she said."

"Sheriff's Deputies searched and searched the area,
using a dog, but did not find any tracks, footprints or
hair, Doran said."

"Luzio said there are no county ordinances forbidding
private ownership of such animals."

"Luzio said his office receives numerous calls from
people claiming to see a tiger or exotic animal, only to
find later the animal was a large cat or a coyote."

"Luzio said those calling in sightings need to
describe what they see as accurately as possible to avoid
wasting valuable manpower on fruitless searches." (See
The Advocate of Newark, Ohio for May 14, 2004, "Residents
claim lion prowls Licking County." Many thanks to Loren
Coleman for this newspaper article.)

MORE PHANTOM PANTHERS SPOTTED IN UK

Early May saw many sightings of Alien Big Cats in UK
(better known as phantom panthers here in the USA--J.T.).

On Saturday, May 1, 2004, "a large black cat was seen
by a resident in Great Owersby, Lincolnshire." It was "in
the nearby spinney when the cat saw the witness" who
"described it as being jet black, Alsatian (dog) sized.
Prints were also found on the banks of a nearby pond."

On Sunday, May 2, 2004, "a big cat was seen in the
Lochwinnoch area" of Renfrewshire, Scotland, "on the edge
of Muirshield Park at 12:20 p.m., a black cat with a body
the length of 4 feet (1.3 meters). A dog had detected the
cat as it was making its way up toward the Park Hill
woods. The dog was barking at a shape moving in the
bushes at the back of the chalets on Lochwinnoch Road.
The owner of the dog shone a torch (flashlight in the USA-
-J.T.) at the cat, who was within 40 feet (12 meters) of
the chalet, and that it ran towards the wooded area at
Bogside Cottage, then went over the hill towards the
village and the Park Hill woods, heading southeast."

That same Sunday, "a dark brown 'puma-like' animal
was seen in Lyme Regis, Devon at approximately 5 p.m.
Although dark brown, its colour 'was not uniform' but had
'lighter patches of fur.' The tail was at least two feet
(0.7 meters) in length and described as 'smooth.'"

"The witness said: 'We were walking from Uplyme to
Lyme Regis, along a pebble footpath that hugs the river
Lyme. It is a well-used and quite popular footpath as it
is very level in parts. We used the footpath the day
before and found it to be a quick way into Lyme. There is
a field next to the river with a lot of sheep and lambs in
it, and also has families of wild rabbits. The field is
enclosed by barbed wire and is separated from another
field on a hillside by a road.'"

"'We were stopped, looking at the lambs and small
rabbits when I said to Alison: 'Look at the size of that
dog! It moves like a cat!'"

The creature "'was moving diagonally down the
hillside, very fast, very close to the ground, it was a
fast trot. It came to within 50 meters (165 feet) when it
noticed us and took quick evasive action and took cover
behind a bush at the edge of the field. We stood still,
hoping to see a glimpse of whatever it was. But nothing.
We waited for 15 minutes. I figured it was more scared of
us than us of it.'"

A week later, on Sunday, May 9, 2004, "Jane
Cottingham, who owns the property" in Lincolnshire "on
which the large panther-like cat was seen in July (2003)
on her patio believes the cat paid another visit that
evening. Her daughter heard strange noises like a woman
screaming or a baby crying, also heard noises on the patio
outside. A huge stool was found in the garden the next
day, although the witnesses are not sure what made it."

(Editor's Comment: It might have been a burglar who came
face-to-face with the panther in the garden.)

On Monday, May 10, 2004, "a lorry (truck in the USA--
J.T.) driver claims to have spotted a large black cat
walking along a main road through the Suffolk countryside.
Driver Martin Emery said he saw an animal 5 feet (1.5
meters) long and 4 feet (1.3 meters) high alongside his
vehicle at Linstead Parva, Halesworth. He said he
believes it was a panther and noticed a paw print nearby.
Peter Mortimer, chairman of Metfield parish council, said
people in the area should exercise caution about
approaching unknown animals."

"'It sounds as though it could be dangerous,' he
said." (See Big Cat News Roundup for May 15, 2004. Many
thanks to Robert Fischer, UFO Roundup's phantom panther
expert, and Mark Fraser for these news stories.)

SHC KILLS ELDERLY MAN IN PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS

An elderly man died in his car in an apparent case of
spontaneous human combustion (SHC) at a cemetery in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas (population 55,085).

"The body of a man was found in a burning car
Sunday," May 9, 2004, "at a cemetery where he and his wife
had gone to visit his mother-in-law's grave, police said."

"R.V. Davis, 78, had been sitting in the car while
his wife, Joy, visited the grave. Joy Davis went back to
the car and saw the fire after hearing her husband
yelling, but neither she nor a bystander could get him out
of the vehicle," according to Sgt. Robert D. Rawlinson, a
spokesman for the Pine Bluff Police Dept.

"Joy Davis told police her husband had stayed in the
car because he was in poor health and couldn't get out
without assistance."

"Police did not know what caused the fire."

"R.V. Davis' body was sent to the state Crime
Laboratory in Little Rock, about 40 miles (64 kilometers)
to the northwest, to determine the cause of death." (See
the Grand Forks, N.D. Herald for May 9, 2004, "Man dies in
burning car in Ark. cemetery." Many thanks to Loren
Coleman for this newspaper article.)

POLTERGEIST CAUSES A STIR IN SOUTH AFRICA

"Rocks are mysteriously 'falling from the sky' onto a
South African family's home at night, and local police
believe demons are responsible."

"The Lambani family, who live in a village near
Thohoyandou, South Africa, are pestered each night by the
falling rocks. This week, they called the police for
help."

"'We've been watching the house every night since
Monday (May 10, 2004) and have seen the stones falling
from the sky above the house,' Police Capt. Ailwei
Mushavhanamadi told the news service."

Though police originally thought "a prankster might
be throwing the rocks, Mushavhanamadi thinks there is a
supernatural explanation."

"'In my personal opinion, this incident has something
to do with demonic spirits. The solution might be for the
family to pray to God for help,' he said."

"Dr. Elijah Mtileni, a pastor at Bethesda Christian
Church in Malamulele, also suspects demonic activity. 'It
is up to the family to give their lives to God first and
believe that when we pray, the demonic spirits will
disappear,' he said, saying he has offered to help the
family."

"A medium, known as a sangoma in South Africa, blames
witchcraft. 'This is a clear case of witchcraft because
people have many ways of destroying the lives of others
through it,' Eric 'Dr. Hlathikulu' Ngebeni is quoted as
saying. He advised the family to consult with their
ancestors and then a sangoma, according to News24.com."
(See WorldNet Daily for May 14, 2004, "Rocks fall from
sky, demons blamed." Many thanks to Mary Lou Jones-Drown
for this news story.)

(Editor's Note: This is the fourth case of stone-throwing
poltergeist activity we've seen in 2004. The previous
three were in Argentina, India and Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, USA. See UFO Roundup, volume 9, number 9
for March 3, 2004, "El Pombero causes havoc in northern
Argentina," page l; UFO Roundup, volume 9, number 12 for
March 24, 2004, "Two new Fayette Factor cases reported in
USA," page 1; and UFO Roundup, volume 9, number 13 for
March 31, 2004, "Poltergeists plague a village in India,"
page 14.)

WEEPING JESUS PORTRAIT DRAWS PILGRIMS IN TEXAS

"Religious pilgrims have come to" Robstown, Texas
(population 12,727) "by the hundreds to glimpse an image
of Jesus they say began weeping inside a wood-framed house
following a grandmother's prayers for her critically-
disfigured grandson."

"The (Roman) Catholic Church has not yet investigated
the claims."

"In a small living room where Gloria Fino, 34,
clutched a Bible to her heart, the cardboard print of
Christ was displayed."

"Fino, a Catholic, dabbed cotton balls against two
streams of an oily substance that traveled down from the
outside corners of the image's eyes. She gave them to
visitors, one after another."

"'I got to wipe the tears,' Jamie Gonzalez, 30, said
as she steadied herself on the porch. 'It's just faith.'"

"As the droplets continued to form, visitors took
photos in the hopes of capturing the mysterious fluid.
Fino took the print off the wall, turning it around to
show the back."

"She said the droplets began to flow late Friday
night (May 7, 2004). She had been praying for her three-
month-old grandson, Isaac Tijerina, who was born with his
internal organs outside his body."

"Isaac remains at Texas Children's Hospital in
Houston, and Fino said doctors' reports have not been
encouraging."

"'I'd been praying to Jesus to send him home,' Fino
told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in today's edition.
'He had a tumor the size of a volleyball that busted.'"

"'If you're here and hearing me, give me a sign' was
her request to Jesus, she told about 30 people in her
house at noontime Monday," May 10, 2004. 'At first there
was a big tear just hanging there, not running. Just
there in the corner of his eye.'"

"She said she summoned her father from his bedroom to
see."

"'We can't always rely on the scientific,' said
Monsignor Richard Shirley, vicar-general of the (Roman
Catholic) Diocese of Corpus Christi. 'If it's of God, it
will endure.'" (See the Houston Chronicle for May 11,
2004, "Weeping cardboard Christ draws Texas pilgrims."
Many thanks to Rose Daugherty for this newspaper article.)

(Editor's Comment: UFO Roundup readers can write to Isaac
in care of the Texas Children's Hospital. For myself, I'm
going to pray that Isaac is cured and lives a long life.
Long enough so that on New Year's Day 2100, Isaac, age 95,
will leave his retirement home on Mars and take his great-
great-grandchildren to the museum to see the robot rovers
Spirit and Opportunity.)

ISRAELI AGENTS CAUGHT IN SOUTHERN TENNESSEE

Two Israeli citizens, possibly on a sabotage mission
for the Mossad, were apprehended Saturday afternoon, May
8, 2004, in southern Tennessee.

"Two Israeli men who led the Unicoi County sheriff on
a high-speed chase in a rental moving truck were placed
under arrest and are being investigated by the FBI, local
officials said."

"Shmuel Dahan and Almaliach Naor, both from Israel,
were being held without bond Sunday afternoon," May 9,
2004 "at the Unicoi County Jail. The truck, rented from a
Ryder office in Mars Hill, North Carolina was being held
in the county garage pending an FBI investigation,
officials said."

"Dahan is charged with reckless driving, littering,
false identification and evading arrest, an officer with
the Unicoi County Sheriff's Department, who would not give
his name, said Sunday."

"An investigation by the FBI is ongoing and more
charges are possible. A woman who answered the phone at
the FBI's Knoxville (Tennessee) office said there was no
one available to answer questions about the arrest."

"The incident began late Saturday afternoon (May 8,
2004) when Sheriff Kent Harris noticed a rental truck
traveling at high speed along former U.S. Highway 23, a
lightly-traveled highway near the North Carolina state
line."

"'I was really concerned because the driver would not
stop after I flashed my headlights for nearly three
miles,' Harris said. 'He was weaving back and forth, and
I was wondering what a large (rental) truck was doing on
the two-lane highway late Saturday afternoon instead of
the faster I-26 interstate.'"

"Harris said he saw the man throw something from the
truck while they were being pursued. Officers scouring
the area later found a vial containing an unknown
substance along the roadway, he said."

"Once the men were apprehended, officers also found a
'Learn to Fly' brochure, leading Harris and others to
express concern about the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in
Erwin, Tenn. (population 5,610)."

"'I got a sick feeling when I saw it,' Harris said."

"Dahan also gave authorities a fake Florida driver's
license issued in Plantation, Fla., he said, while Naor
produced a false identification card."

"Harris subsequently contacted the FBI, the federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and other
local authorities to look into the situation."

"'We're not overreacting,' Harris said, 'We have a
responsibility to protect the citizens of Unicoi County,
and that's what I'm going to do at any cost. I'd rather
overreact, if that's what you call it, than be sorry
later.'"

The capture of Dahan and Naor led to speculation that
the Mossad was planning an attack on the Tennessee nuclear
facility in the hopes of pinning the blame on Al-Qaeda or
religious enemies like the Christian Identity movement,
which has many adherents in the Tennessee/North Carolina
border region.

But the case took a bizarre twist on Wednesday, May
12, 2004, when federal agents escorted Dahan and Naor out
of Unicoi County.

"The leader of the two Israelis arrested after
leading police on a high-speed chase in a moving van last
Saturday in rural Tennessee is the son of a spokesman for
the Likud," the Israeli political coalition led by Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon.

"Shmuel Dahan, 23, is himself a former spokesman of
the National Union of Israeli Students, which represents
the country's 150,000 university students."

"However, the investigation was halted Wednesday
after the men were released from the Unicoi County Jail
into the custody of federal officials from the Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS), where they face only a
deportation hearing."

"'They're taking it out of my jurisdiction,' said
Sheriff Kent Harris, who apprehended the men Saturday
after a high-speed chase on a little-used state highway."
(See The Observer of Charlotte, N.C. for May 9, 2004, "Two
men arrested after high-speed chase in Tennessee." Also
the Asheville, N.C. Citizen-Times for May 12, 2004. Many
thanks to Jim Danvers for these newspaper articles.)
(Editor's Comment: Christian Identity people should
consider themselves warned. Keep an eye out for those
Mossad saboteurs in your neighborhoods. It would be a
real shame if some of those Israeli doggoschitzim
accidentally wandered into Bayou Bonfouca and got lost.
One thing's for certain--Mother Dixie's alligators would
soon be "eating kosher.")

LATEST ON FAYETTE FACTOR

The Fayette Factor is one of the least-understood
Fortean phenomena in the USA. It consists of the high
incidence of paranormal events relating to places named
after the Marquis de Lafayette, one of the USA's Founding
Fathers and a prominent Freemason.

In Fayette County, Pennsylvania--an area with the
highest incidence of such strange happenings--"a man was
shot to death as he stood outside a housing development in
Brownsville, Pa." on Tuesday, May 11, 2004.

In Louisiana, "investigators believe that Luo
Haiming, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette student
from China, who is being sought in the death of a fellow
student, remains in the United States."

Also, "a missing graduate student's body was found in
her dormitory at the University of Louisiana" in
Lafayette, La. (population 110,257) on Friday, May 7,
2004.

Finally, the Fayette Factor managed to surface in the
top news story in the USA--the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at
the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

"Army Spc. Charles Graner, an accused ringleader in
the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in
Baghdad, repeatedly has faced allegations of violence and
psychological abuse in his personal life and at his job as
a Pennsylvania prison guard."

"Graner, 35, was charged Friday," May 14, 2004, "with
cruelty, maltreatment and willfully failing to protect
prisoners from abuse at Abu Ghraib. The charges have cast
the Army reservist from Uniontown, Pa. as a key figure in
the abuse scandal that has embarrassed the United States."

Uniontown (population 12,422) is the largest town in
Pennsylvania's Fayette County. (See the Pittsburgh, Pa.
Post-Gazette for May 12, 2004, "Man gunned down in Fayette
County;" The Advertiser of Lafayette, La. for May 15,
2004, "Homicide suspect still in U.S.;" and USA Today for
May 17, 2004, "Former guard has a history of complaints,"
page 7A.)

READER FEEDBACK:

TRIANGULAR UFO SEEN IN KANSAS

Gary Cofer of Kansas writes, "Two months ago I saw
something very similar to the UFO reported in Varnville,
South Carolina recently. A triangular aircraft or UFO.
At the time I didn't think much about it because I was
late for work--I work third shift. It was around 10 p.m.
and I was heading to Lawrence, Kansas. From the west
about 8 miles (12 kilometers) from town, I noticed a
bright light in the southern sky coming towards me. I
kept watching as it got nearer and flew directly over me
at about 500 feet (165 meters)."

"I looked up as it passed by and saw three lights on
the bottom that formed a triangle. The lights lit up the
bottom of the craft, but it did not look like any aircraft
I am familiar with. I was in the (U.S.) Air Force back in
the late 60s and early 70s."

"What was strange about it was is that there were no
anti-collision lights and no wingtip lights. As it went
over, it was moving at a very slow speed. At the time I
wondered how it could stay in the air at that speed.
Anyway, it made a slow bank to the west after it passed
over. In my car, I could not hear any noise. At that
height I should have heard something."

ANOTHER WEIRD HUM REPORTED

Nancy Ruhl of California wrote, "The article you sent
recently on mysterious hums was particularly interesting
because my husband and I had a similar experience one
night this past year. Late in the middle of the night, my
husband Ron woke me up, asking, 'Do you hear that sound?'"

"I listened intently for a few moments. I suddenly
picked up on a most unusual, almost inaudible, low,
humming, pulsating sound. I remember it sounded like the
hum of a UFO someone had managed to tape on their video
camcorder that Art Bell (host of) Coast to Coast, had
featured one night on his program a few years ago."

"I replied, 'Yes, I sure do.'"

"At that point, the sound suddenly stopped. We
haven't heard it since."
"I've lived in the San Francisco/East Bay area since
around 1962 and have never heard such a sound in this area
before."

"I wondered at the time if HAARP up in Alaska could
be aiming in this direction, or if a real UFO was overhead
or behind my house, or if the military had tests going on
underground. It was all very strange."

From the UFO Files...

1765: LAFAYETTE AND THE WEREWOLF

The new movie Van Helsing features a Nineteenth
Century adventurer who battles the "Famous Monsters of
Filmland" in the backwoods of Transylvania. The story is
sheer fiction. But how many people are aware that there
was indeed a fearless werewolf hunter in Eighteenth
Century France?

Not only that, but this hunter has a name familiar to
every American...the Marquis de Lafayette.

On the evening of September 6, 1757, a baby boy was
born at the Chateau de Chavaniac in France's Auvergne
region. He was held over the baptismal font by his
maternal grandfather, the Marquis de la Riviere, who then
jotted down his name in the family Bible.

It was a lengthy notation: "Born this day the Most
High and Powerful Seigneur Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Baron de Vissac,
Seigneur de Saint-Romain, Puy and other fiefdoms, lawful
issue of the Colonel-Marquis and the Most High and
Powerful Marie Louise Julie de la Riviere."

While still in diapers, the marquis became known as
Gilbert. The other five names were trotted out for
official occasions. It was a common name in the boy's
family, which could trace its lineage all the way back to
1000 A.D.

The first Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette was a
Crusader who had fought the Muslims at Acre in 1250 A.D.
The family keep was an old Roman ruin in the Auvergne's
Dore Mountains known as Villa Faya, which eventually
became Lafayette in French.

(Editor's Note: The Auvergne is in south-central France,
about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Clermont-Ferrand
and 210 kilometers (126 miles) south of Paris.)

Two centuries later, the third Gilbert rode with Joan
of Arc against the British and Burgundian troops that held
Orleans. At one time Gilbert may have even handled the
legendary Sword of Destiny, then in Joan's custody. He
witnessed King Charles VII's coronation at Rheims and
eventually became a Marshal of France.

(Editor's Note: For more on Joan of Arc and the Sword of
Destiny, see UFO Roundup, volume 9, number 10 for March
10, 2004, "1429: Mention her name in Domremy," page 12.)

"It was a proverb in Auvergne that the Lafayettes all
died young and in battle."

Sadly, "our" Gilbert's father was no exception. He
was killed by a British cannonball while commanding his
grenadier regiment, the Black Musketeers, at the battle of
Minden on August 1, 1759. The Colonel-Marquis was 27
years old.

King Louis XV, grateful for the colonel's service,
settled a pension of 780 livres on the two-year-old. His
mother, Julie, "was a beautiful woman, witty and clever,
who felt it to be her duty to remain at Court" in
Versailles "and advance the interests of her son. It was
the only way to get on. Besides, it was rather dull at
Chavaniac, with no one but three provincial old ladies to
talk to."

But Gilbert loved the wild Auvergne region, with its
rye fields a golden glow in summer, and the Puy de Dome a
misty hump on the northern horizon. In winter, the Dore
range became a forbidding panorama of stark snow-covered
peaks and dark, brooding evergreen forests.

Julie spent every July and August at the Chateau de
Chavaniac. The rest of the year, Gilbert was raised by
his elderly Grandmere, Catherine de Chavaniac, and his two
great-aunts, Marie and Gabrielle du Motier de Champtieres,
who were nuns. For years they had been cloistered at the
convent of Chazes. They had received a dispensation from
Rome to care for their two-year-old great nephew.

Entrusted with the boy's education was the Abbe
Fayon, who "taught him Latin, Arma virumque; but he did
not teach him much religion, for religion had gone almost
wholly out of fashion in France."

Voltaire and Rousseau may have been the rage in the
salons of Paris. But in the Auvergne, life hadn't changed
much since the Middle Ages. The peasants tipped their
caps whenever young Gilbert, with the Abbe Fayon at his
side, walked down the street. Tante Marie and Tante
Gabrielle gasped and made the sign of the cross whenever
Voltaire's name was mentioned. For had not the Evil One
proven himself a dark devotee of Satan when he said of the
Church, " Ecrasez l'infame!" (French for "Destroy the evil
thing!"--J.T.)?

And, of course, everybody knew about the loup-garou
(French for werewolf --J.T.).

In November 1765, farmers in the Auvergne began
reporting severe livestock losses. Soon it was "a scourge
that everyone dreaded, 'the Beast of Gevaudan.' The
creature killed cattle on the nearby hills, and shocked
talk had it eating women, children and 'shepherdesses
reknowned for their beauty.'"

"This discriminating monster was also rumored to put
even armed travelers to flight." And who wouldn't be
petrified--to see a ferocious wolf-man standing upright on
his hind legs, clawed fingers outstretched, jaws
slavering, fangs gleaming, and uttering a hellish howl?

"It's the loup-garou, the curse of the Gevaudan,"
Grandmere Tene told the wide-eyed, eight-year-old marquis.
"Once bitten, there is no escape. Even if a man says his
prayers fervently, he is doomed to change when the moon is
full. He becomes the loup-garou, and the urge to kill is
in his blood."

"Can such a creature be slain?" Gilbert asked.

"Silver is the werewolf's bane," the elderly Gypsy
queen said, "A silver blade--a silver bullet--only these
can kill the loup-garou. But the hunter must be very
careful. For if he is bitten, he, too, will become a
werewolf at the next full moon--"

Just then, Gilbert felt a hand on his shoulder.
Looking up, he saw Abbe Fayon smiling down at him.

"Come, Gilbert, it's time for your lessons," the
priest said, and, turning to the old woman, added, "Shame
on you, Madame de Tene. Filling the boy's head with such
nonsense!"

"It is not nonsense." She drew her woolen shawl more
closely about her. "When I was a young girl, back home in
Transylvania, I saw the footprints of a werewolf on the
slopes of the Virful Bihor." She raised her clenched
fist. "Wolf tracks bigger than this! And the night
before, there was a full moon--"

"Transylvania!" Abbe Fayon rolled his eyes in
exasperation. "The land of fables! Witches, werewolves,
vampires...Mon Dieu! Haven't you heard? It's the
Eighteenth Century!"

"So, priest, you do not believe in the Nosferatu!?"
Quickly she made the fica, her fingers moving to ward off
a curse. "Ha! Go to Cimpeni. Ask for the Count." She
let out a demented cackle. "Vladislau Mihailovich will
make you a believer!"

The werewolf tales made a big impression on the young
Lafayette. "All that Lafayette remembered afterwards of
the eleven years passed at Chavaniac, which were his whole
childhood, was his ambition to defend the peasants from
the beasts of prey."

Despite the abbe's dismissal of "the Beast of
Gevaudan" as "sheer superstition," the boy "ranged through
the woods in search of the legendary werewolf and fed his
imagination on the triumphal reception and the gratitude
of the peasants that would be his when he returned to them
as their liberator..."

"In his (autobiography) Memoires de ma main Lafayette
declares that this childish ambition to free his native
place from the fabulous monster was the first germ of his
lifelong passion for taking the part of the weak against
their oppressors."

Livestock losses continued throughout the winter. In
January 1766, Catherine de Chavaniac received a newspaper
in the mail. Gilbert, who read everything in the chateau,
pored through it and cried out in indignation. The
newspaper contained a letter from "a hunter giving his
name as 'Lafayette'" who "had reported seeing the beast,
but was too frightened to kill it."

"The young marquis was stung into writing an
indignant letter to the journal that carried this
slander...a letter to the editor protesting that it was
not he who had been afraid. Grandmama Chavaniac read the
letter and calmly put it in the fire. She was a lady of
great good sense; and people came to consult her judgement
from twenty leagues around."

Still he would not give up. "Lafayette dreamed of
meeting the animal on one of his walks, and killing it
with his bare hands."

So it was that on February 22, 1766, while walking in
the snowbound forest of the Bois de Gevaudan, Gilbert came
upon a strange bearded man in a slouch hat and heavy
cloak. The man crouched in the snow, intently studying
the ground.

Gilbert crunched his way through the knee-deep snow.
"What are you doing?"

The grey-bearded man glanced his way. "Who is
asking?"

"I am the marquis."

The stranger tried not to smile. "Are you indeed?"

"Yes. This land is mine, monsieur." Well,
technically, it was Grandmere's, Gilbert thought, but he
didn't think she'd mind such a small fib. "You have not
told me your name."

"Rather rude of me, I suppose." Standing erect, he
offered the boy his extended hand. "A pleasure to meet
you, Monsieur de Lafayette. My name is Ouimette. I'm the
King's huntsman."

Ouimette explained that King Louis XV had posted a
reward for "the Beast of Gevaudan." As Master of the Hunt
at Versailles, Ouimette had gotten the king's permission
to track down and slay the creature. To Gilbert's
delight, he pointed out the unusually large wolf
footprints in the snow.

Gilbert followed the huntsman deeper into the woods.
Ouimette plodded along, his elegant Charleville musket
tucked under his arm. Suddenly, he halted and raised his
free hand. "Now there's something you don't see every
day."

Gilbert peered into the forest clearing. The snow
was littered with scraps of what looked like spoiled meat.
Then his gaze followed the trail of wolf prints. It ended
abruptly in a circle of swirled snow. And just beyond
that, approaching the circle, was a line of footprints.
Human footprints.

The young marquis tried to imagine the loup-garou in
his human form, fleeing the inexorable rising of the moon.
He could see the unfortunate soul stumbling into the
clearing, crying out in despair at the sudden shaft of
moonlight. And then...the awful transformation!

"Looking for you. Your great-aunts are frantic.
You've been gone for hours."

Gilbert introduced his teacher to Ouimette. But the
huntsman cut short the pleasantries. He insisted that
they press on before they were caught outdoors in the
dark.

They didn't quite make it. Dusk found them three
kilometers (2 miles) from the chateau. With a makeshift
torch lighting the way, the trio plodded through the
virgin snow. Just as the full moon peeped between the
spires of the evergreens, a long, wolfish howl split the
night.

"Wolves," Abbe Fayon murmured, crossing himself.

"No, just one." Ouimette led them into a small
clearing. He opened a small pouch, then poured something
down the muzzle of his musket. Swiftly he tapped the
projectiles with his ramrod. The howling continued. It
sounded closer now.

Suddenly, Gilbert heard a thrashing in the
underbrush. Something large was breaking branches as it
moved straight towards them.

"Damn! The wind shifted. He has our scent."
Ouimette held his musket at the ready. "Stay at my sides,
both of you. And if you value your lives, do not move!"

Just then, a hulking manlike shape appeared at the
edge of the clearing. Gilbert gasped at the sight of its
powerful form, its canine head, with its pointed ears,
long snout, enraged eyes and gleaming fangs. The creature
was covered with a glossy dark brown fur. Its taloned
fingers curled, ready to rend and kill.

"No!" Abbe Fayon screamed. "It's not possible!"

Lifting its head, the loup-garou let out a bone-
chilling howl.

And then it melted into the shadows.

"Watch my back!" the huntsman hissed. "If you see
any movement--anything at all--yell!"

"W-What's it doing?" Gilbert asked, his own keen
gaze raking the moonlit trees.

"It's trying to sneak up on us, boy. When it gets
close enough--"

Before the huntsman could finish, a fearsome dark
shape bounded out of the trees, bounced off an oak trunk
and landed on the trio with a hellish growl. The priest
shrieked in terror. Gilbert felt a clawed foot strike his
chest, hurling him away from the others. He rolled over
and over in the snow.

The loup-garou's taloned swipe knocked the musket
from Ouimette's gasp. It landed among some rocks. The
hammer came down, and a gunshot split the air.

Gilbert rose to all fours. Abbe Fayon was facedown
in the snow, gibbering in mad fear. A bit closer,
Ouimette, now hatless, struggled to rise. Baying and
snarling, the loup-garou crouched, ready to spring. Its
maddened eyes flitted from the boy to the huntsman and
back again.

For a moment, the future of the USA hung in the
balance. But then the loup-garou decided that Ouimette
was the greater threat. Mouth agape, it rushed towards
him.

This was exactly what Ouimette wanted. He flipped
open his woolen cloak, exposing a sawed-off musket cut
about eight inches under legal. Holding the weapon like
an oversized pistol, he took dead aim at the werewolf's
chest.

"Surprise!" he whispered.

BLAM! The silver buckshot tore the werewolf's
muscular chest into raw hamburger. Its snarl traveled
upscale into a howl of sheer agony. It flopped backwards
into the deep snow, its flailing limbs and writhing torso
gleaming in the moonlight. Unable to look away, the young
Lafayette watched it change.

First it was the powerful loup-garou, howling its
rage and pain. Then it was a naked man, thrashing in the
snow, covered with blood. Next it was an abnormally large
wolf, biting and snapping and uttering howls of despair.
It seemed to change its form every second, Gilbert
thought, like clouds in a high wind.

And then it was motionless--a large Alpine wolf
staining the snow crimson. Ouimette prodded it with his
weapon. There was no response.

"The Beast of Gevaudan," he murmured, "C'est fini."

Ouimette "sent the carcass to Paris as a gift to the
King." Former British prime minister "Horace Walpole saw
it in the Queen's antechamber at Versailles. It was,"
Walpole wrote, "'just arrived and covered with a cloth,
which two Chausseurs lifted up. It was an absolute wolf,
but uncommonly large and the expression of agony and
fierceness remained strongly imprinted on its dead jaws.'"

"Over a hundred years later," with Lafayette long
dead, "stories of the horror still abounded. They reached
the ears of Robert Louis Stevenson, when traversing the
Gevaudan with his famous donkey Modestine, and he decided
that the beast must have been 'the Napoleon Bonaparte of
wolves.'"

As for the Abbe Fayon, he continued teaching his
young charge Latin, counted his many gray hairs and prayed
fervently for the day when Madame Julie would return to
Chavaniac and place her boy in a Paris boarding school.
That day came in 1768. (And I'll bet Abbe Fayon was so
grateful that he sang Te Deum up and down the slopes of
the Puy de Dome--J.T.)

Gilbert, of course, grew up to become the Marquis de
Lafayette and was one of the Founding Fathers of the USA.

But l'affaire Gevaudan was not his only foray into
the realm of the paranormal. (See the books La Fayette,
volume 1, by Brand Whitlock, D. Appleton & Co., New York
City and London, 1929, pages 6 through 9; Lafayette by
Peter Buckman, Paddington Press Ltd., New York City and
London, 1977, pages 12 and 13; Lafayette: A Life by
Andreas Latzko, The Literary Guild, New Uork, N.Y., 1936,
pages 4 and 5; and Adrienne: The Life of the Marquise de
Lafayette by Andre Maurois, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York
City and Toronto, 1961, pages 22 and 23.)

Well, that's it for this week. Join us in seven days
for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the
planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home-
-UFO Roundup." See you next time.

UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2004 by Masinaigan Productions, all
rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO
Roundup on their Web sites or in news groups provided that
they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list
the date of issue in which the item first appeared.